“If we find difficulties in the Bible that we cannot explain, a degree of modesty on our part would lead us to say, ‘If I knew a little more, I might be able to explain this difficulty,’ rather than, ‘This book that contains a difficulty which I cannot explain surely cannot be from God.'”

Sometimes when we encounter things we find problematic in the Bible, such as apparent contradictions, or commands that are hard for us to swallow, we may need to file it in what my friend Greg Bannister calls our ‘Awaiting Further Light folder.’ Doing that requires humility (as R. A. Torrey points out in the quote above), patience and trust. And to do that with integrity will mean prayerfully and expectantly revisiting the AFL folder at a later date, rather than permanently shelving it.